3.13.2017

This week’s recipe is yet another easy, guilt-free but satisfying meal packed with nutrients, broccoli soup with cheddar toast. The best part is that it can be prepared in no time. Doesn’t that sound wonderful already? These are the types of meals that we are relying on these days. My daughter Georgette is taking most of our attention (especially now that she is teething). But I still want to make sure I’m feeding my family something healthy.

2.23.2017

Quick meals! That’s all I have time to make around here these days. With a demanding 4-month old baby and a 6-year old boy running around EVERYWHERE, our options are limited. For these hectic days, quick and easy-to-prepare meals come in handy. This recipe relies on good quality ingredients. Fresh broccoli rabe has been quickly blanched to preserve that beautiful green color and then sautéed with lots of garlic, salt and pepper. Our local supermarket sells this beautiful Italian parsley and cheese sausage. I never even heard about this sausage until my husband introduced me to it.Needless to say, it’s absolutely delicious. All I did to it was shove it in the oven for 30 minutes. It doesn’t get easier than that.

Everything comes together with a piece of freshly baked, crusty bread. You can also make crostinior even sandwiches with this recipe if you don’t want to have it as a full meal, just add a slice of cheese and sun dried tomatoes. Delizioso!

10.28.2016

A quick update before the weekend to share this lovely, truly delicious, super moist and nutty, flourless almond cake recipe with you. This is the ideal dessert, especially if you are hosting a weekend brunch. It has the perfect balance between coconut and almond, so if you are a coconut lover, this post is for you!

Flourless almond cake is one of those classic recipes you want to always have on hand. Not only is it delicious but as an added bonus, it’s also gluten free. This cake is perfect on its own, dusted with powdered sugar, or if you really want to dress it up, whipped cream.

10.14.2016

Flaky, buttery and delicious, that’s what you will get with this easy-to-follow biscuit recipe. With the holiday season quickly approaching, I thought you would find a good (and I mean GOOD) buttermilk biscuit recipe helpful. This versatile, old-fashioned biscuit recipe will be all you need to complement your meal, whether you are making brunch, dessert or simply have them as an accompaniment for dinner. This buttery goodness won’t disappoint!

Nothing beats homemade baked goods fresh out of the oven and these biscuits aren’t an exception. The only thing that could possibly make them better, is some good quality butter and your favorite jam. Add to that a cup of coffee or tea, I’m telling you, comfort at its best. There are a few tricks to make the perfect biscuits, like using very cold ingredients and folding the dough on itself a few times to create those characteristic flaky layers. Not overworking the dough it’s also key. They really are fairly simple to make so please, don’t ever let baking intimidate you!

On a different note, two weeks ago, we welcomed our daughter Georgette Marie to this world and we couldn’t be happier. I’m completely in love with my little girl and I can’t wait to share some pictures with you! Oh yeah, I also haven’t slept in two weeks but she is totally worth it :)

9.27.2016

I’m back!! I can’t believe it has been this long since my last post. A lot has happened since then. I took a much needed break to adjust to my new life. Before I go into detail, let me just say how much I missed you and I couldn’t wait to come back! Even though I have been active on my social media, it’s never the same.

So to start my update, Tom (my better half) Lucas and I moved to Long Island, NY. We bought a cozy house where we hope to start fresh, and raise our family. We are still close to Manhattan but with all the benefits that a suburban life has to offer. I’m very happy here. What else is new? oh yeah, I’m very excited to announce that I’m expecting my second child, a baby girl. She will be here any day now! I’m nervous but super happy to meet and welcome her. I can’t wait to see her little face.

Now that you know what I’ve been up to these days, I will go ahead and share an awesome recipe with you, Ricotta Cavatelli. This is a perfect recipe if you want to make your own pasta. The dough is so beautiful to work with, it feels therapeutic. Cavatelli is very easy to shape and those ridges will help grab the sauce so beautifully. There are endless sauces you can use with cavatelli, it’s a blank canvas for whatever you are craving. I’m happy to be back. Back with lots of new recipes and I can’t wait to share them all with you!

3.23.2016

If you’re still looking for food ideas for your Easter meal, here is a recipe straight from the coast of Honduras. One of my favorites is fried fish with pickled onions and coconut rice and beans. It’s a very flavorful dish and each element could be used in different recipes, especially this 20-minute pickled onion recipe which pairs very well with grilled meat.

It’s a very easy recipe. The fish is seasoned with cumin, salt and pepper then lightly dredged in flour and finally fried to perfection. You can use whatever type of fish you like, red snapper and tilapia are great options. I know a lot of people fear rice-making for some reason but this is an easy-to-follow recipe. Trust me, it’s worth trying. And finally the easiest picked onion recipe. You can start this recipe by preparing the onions and by the time you are done cooking everything else, they will be ready for you. Yup, it’s that easy.

3.11.2016

Is anybody else excited about the awesome weather we’re having? With spring just around the corner, I’m gathering up some of my spring-inspired recipes to share with you. This simple recipe makes for a perfect weekend lunch or a weeknight dinner. The mild licorice flavor of fennel along with crispy potatoes and the clean flavor of the asparagus, complements the fish beautifully.

The fish, if seasoned with only a few basic ingredients allows it to be the star of the show. You can also play around with different ingredients like cilantro instead of parsley or butternut squash instead of potatoes. This is such an easy recipe that's pretty hard to mess up so just go for it. (Even my boyfriend can make this, I’m telling you ;).

2.05.2016

All right I have a confession to make, I don’t really follow football or even understand the rules of the game but, it’s not written anywhere that you must love football in order to have nachos during the game. If that was the case, I would totally fake my love for football over these nachos.

With that off my chest, I think the best and easiest way to relax during the game is to have a build-your-own-nachos bar. Most people love interacting with food and this is a great way to entertain and have fun at the same time. Layered with so many different textures and flavors, nachos is a meal on it's own. Crunchy chips, velvety cheese sauce, fresh vegetables, refried beans and the list goes on. Let’s talk about the cheese sauce. It is so good and smooth that you will want to use it as a dip.

What makes it so much fun is that you can add anything on top. I kept my recipe meat-less but you can add anything from shredded chicken to chorizo. Yes, I said chorizo, I’ve done it before. Don’t judge. Either way, here are the recipes, happy game!

1.20.2016

I’m very excited to start this year with a very delicious post, a comforting cheese lasagna. This hearty dish is what I crave on a cold winter night. Mozzarella, ricotta and Parmesan cheese come together to add a creamy texture and classic flavors to a wonderful recipe that can easily turned into a family favorite.

A very important part of this lasagna is the marinara sauce. I have an easy-to-make recipe that you can make ahead of time in small or big batches and freeze. I always like to make extra because a good marinara sauce always comes in handy. It’s one of those “pantry” essentials you must have.

P.S. Whoever told you cheese lasagna was fattening, was telling you the truth but that’s beside the point. So go make this wonderful dish and make people happy!

12.11.2015

Bite-size apple pies? The good news is, they are small which translate to fewer calories. The bad news is, they are so good you’ll eat the equivalent of two full- size slices of apple pie. But don’t worry, diet starts in January, right?

These are so easy to prepare. The filling which takes about 25 minutes to make, can be done the day before. The dough, dumpling wrappers. Easy enough! All you have to do is to scoop some of the filing into the dough and seal it with a little bit of water. Then they get fried for a couple of minutes until golden. Drain the excess oil and roll them in cinnamon sugar while they’re still hot. These crispy bites are best enjoyed hot with a healthy scoop of vanilla ice cream. I hope you’re enjoying the holidays. Until next time!

11.20.2015

With Thanksgiving day around the corner, I thought I would put together for you some of the blog’s most popular recipes. I love every single one of these. It’s what I come back to every year. For starters, I have Coconut, Ginger and Butternut Squash Soup. These are great to pass around while everyone is waiting for dinner. Next up, Pork Tenderloin with Cranberry-Raspberry Sauce, because let’s face it, a lot of people don’t like turkey. Want something different from your traditional side dishes? Try two of my favorites; Lemon Yogurt & Sautéed Cauliflower or Roasted Veggies with Caramelized Onions and Tahini Sauce. Last but not least, dessert. Eggnog Cheesecake Tart (I know!) and a classic but always welcomed, Pumpkin Pie. Hungry yet? Well, get cooking!

10.30.2015

Hi everybody, just a quick update to share my pumpkin pie recipe with you because, what’s fall without pumpkin pie, right? This is the perfect dessert to bring to a dinner party, it looks like you worked all day to make it but the truth is, both filling and tart shell are easy to put together and you will still get all the fame and glory for it :).

So there is this little thing I do differently when making this pie, I use sweetened condensed milk to replace the sugar. The end result? A creamy, luscious slice of pumpkin pie heaven. Don’t take my word for it, make it! Have a great weekend!

10.23.2015

Sometimes I bake cakes without any intention of publishing the recipe here. I just do it because I love to bake. But when people taste or see pictures, then they start asking for recipes and that’s when I know I need to post it (you would think I should know better by now, right?). Everyone I gave a piece of this cake fell in love with it so here I am, sharing another must-try recipe.

There is nothing more warming than to walk in your home and be welcomed by those distinctive fall aromas. Let this delicious seasonal cake perfume your home and in the process, make people happy. Enjoy this cake with whipped cream or Crème fraîche and a hot cup of coffee or tea!

9.10.2015

Everyone has their own version of arroz con pollo. It varies from region to region, some people use tomatoes, others use chicken broth and in some extreme cases, your grandma stops talking to you for days if you don’t make a sofrito. I'm not even kidding.

This recipe is a mix and match of things that work for me. I can’t say this recipe is from a particular region but trust me, it comes out great every time I make it. I love to use my cast iron skillet when I make my arroz con pollo. Using cast iron is very practical. You can serve it straight from there and it stays warm longer. My favorite part of this all-in-one dish is the caramelized rice in the bottom of the skillet, it’s crispy and very flavorful, much like a paella.

Bright and a little spicy, this salsa verde is the perfect complement to this dish. I love this salsa, it goes very well with a lot of dishes, especially grilled foods. Here is the recipe, try it and make it your own! Buen provecho!

8.27.2015

You know when a recipe is super healthy, low calories and good for you, umm, this isn't that. This recipe will make you happy and comfort you and might even put you in a better mood. Isn't that enough to break your diet? If your answer is yes, you are reading the right post.

I absolutely love cardamom in sweets, it adds the “je ne sais quoi” to a recipe and it's definitely the kick this classic, creamy strawberry milk shake needs. Not a fan of cardamom? Well, add it anyway, you might change your mind after the first sip. And remember, all you need is love and a strawberry milkshake.

8.19.2015

Love tomato soup? Try this easy-to-make, silky tomato soup recipe filled with summer flavors. This is a light soup that doesn’t need heavy cream to be silky. Perfect for parties as you can make it ahead of time to be served hot or cold. The Parmesan crisp brings the crunch and the basil oil brightens this soup up. This beautiful balance of flavors and textures will leave you wanting more.

I never get tired of tomatoes and try to eat them and utilize them in recipes as much as I can before the season ends. This is a perfect way for the tomatoes to stand out and be the star of a dish. A classic, good tomato soup recipe that everyone should have in their recipe collection.Try this simple recipe and make it your own!